Globalization and Reunification: Administrative Reforms and the China–Hong Kong Convergence Challenge

When Hong Kong reintegrated with China in 1997, one critical issue was whether the flourishing center of economic activity with an efficient administrative framework would lose its advantages and become just another city of the People's Republic of China. This article examines the process of managing transition as socialist China tries to accommodate capitalist Hong Kong. With strong forces of globalization at play, both units have had to embark on administrative reforms to make their systems compatible with the demands of the new circumstances. An overview of the reforms they have undertaken reveals that convergence is possible despite markedly different points of departure. However, while the forces of globalization press for increased convergence, the forces of institutional arrangements and history present a major challenge. The balance of the push and pull of convergent and divergent forces will determine the direction and outcome of administrative reforms in China and Hong Kong.     

Public policy and privatisation: the case of the Qatari experience

This article uses a qualitative methodology employing the elite model to describe and analyse the complex interplay of political and economic factors in the privatization experience of the state of Qatar. The article begins by providing a theoretical framework for privatisation in the context of public policy and classifying policies of privatisation into two categories: macro‐ and micro‐privatisation. The second part uses this framework to discuss the factors that gives the Qatari experience its distinguished flavour. These factors include: elite legitimacy and social culture, bureaucratic power, international pressure and patron–client networks. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New challenges for a post‐Cold War Japan

Najmul Saqib Khan was Pakistan's ambassador to Japan from 1985 to 1988. He says of Japan, “The country made a profound and lasting impact on me. The economic achievements of a resource‐poor country, the retention of cultural identity by a synthesis of tradition and modernity, and the innovativeness and communitarian values of Japanese society were genuinely impressive. Japan showed a virtually untapped potential to play a more active and independent role in the world.” Khan subsequently wrote a book that distilled the lessons that Southwest Asia could learn from Japan.’ He argued that countries undergoing modernization should shed their elitism and concentrate on attaining a high standard of capability for the average citizen. In this essay, he analyzes the challenges facing Japan in the post‐Cold War era.     

The revival of ‘native administration’ in the Sudan: A pragmatic view

The basic theme of this paper is to trace the pragmatic attempts of different governments in the Sudan to revive the system of native administration. The need for this revival became clear shortly before the overthrow of Nimeiry's government in April 1985. The approaches to this revival followed two main lines. The first approach adopted piecemeal reforms initiated by individual regional governments before 1986. In the second approach the central government adopted a comprehensive strategy to revive native administration. The implications of these attempts and their expected influence on the new multi-party system in the Sudan are briefly analysed in this paper. The data for this article was collected by the author while touring the Eastern and Western regions with an ILO project identification team between March and June 1986 as a consultant on local government and popular participation.     

Politics of administrative reform and reorganization in Bangladesh

The present military government in Bangladesh has implemented a number of major administrative reform and reorganization measures. The government claims that effectuation of such measures has led to the decentralization of power and authority to the grass-root level ensuring increasing popular participation in administration; the achievement of cost-effectiveness by reducing the number of ministries, divisions and personnel from the public pay roll and by quickening of the pace of decision-making due to elimination of redundant bureaucratic layers. But the implementation, in reality, has contributed among other things to the legitimization and strengthening of the military government, and a weakening of the democratically organized political opposition. It also enables generalist civil servants to preserve, and to some extent strengthen, their position within the civil service system.     

C. Reviews and notes: bibliographies and works of reference

i. ISLAMIC BOOK REVIEW INDEX. Compiled by Wolfgang H. Behn Berlin, Adiyok. Vol.2, 1983, pp.239; Vol.3, 1984, pp.234. Each DM 60.

ii. L'ORIENT DES PROVENÇAUX DMNS L'HISTOIRE. Marseille, Archives Departementales, Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie, 1982. pp.472.

iii. TUNISIA. By Allan M. Findlay, Anne M.Findlay & R.I.Lawless. (World Bibliographical Series, 33). Oxford & Santa Barbara, Clio Press, 1982. pp.xxviii, 251, map. £28.

iv. INDEX ISLAMICUS 1976–1980. Part 1: ARTICLES, compiled by J.D.Pearson. Part 2: MONOGRAPHS, compiled by J.D.Pearson & Wolfgang BEHN London, Mansell, 1983. 2 vols. pp.xliii, 539, xii, 348. Pt.1 £45; Pt.2 £30.

v. EXPOSITION: LETTRES ET VISAGES DU LIBAN ET DE L'ORIENT, organisée par PHILIPPE DUVOLLET avec la collaboration de la Délégation Permanente du Liban auprès de l'UNESCO. Paris, AGECOOP, 1983. pp.137.

vi. DAS ARABISCHE BUCH: THE ARAB BOOK. EINE AUSSTELLUNG ARABISCHER HANDSCHRIFTEN DER CHESTER BEATTY LIBRARY, DUBLIN...AUS ANLASS DES EURO‐ARABISCHEN DIALOGES, KULTURELLES SYMPOSIUM 1983: AN EXHIBITION OF ARABIC MANUSCRIPTS FROM THE CHESTER BEATYY LIBRARY, DUBLIN...ON THE OCCASION OF THE EURO‐ARAB DIALOGUE, CULTURAL SYMPOSIUM APRIL 1983. By David James. Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, 1983. pp.34.

vii. SAUDI MEDICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. By M.Monir Madkour and Aida J. Kudwah. Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1983. Vol.I, 1887–1980, pp.284, £35.00; Vol.II, 1981 & 1982, pp.269, £30.00.

viii. LUCHTMANS & BRILL: DRIEHONDERD JAAR UTTGEVERS EN DRUKKERS IN LEIDEN 1683–1983: CATALOGUS VAN DE TENTOONSTELLING GEHOUDEN VAN l SEPTEMBER TOT 1 OKTOBER 1983 IN BET GEMEENTE‐ARCHIEF TE LEIDEN. Leiden, Brill, 1983. pp.74. Plates & illustrations.

ix. PHILOLOGIA ORIENTALIS: A DESCRIPTION OF BOOKS ILLUSTRATING THE STUDY AND PRINTING OF ORIENTAL LANGUAGES IN EUROPE. II. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. (Catalogue 524.) Leiden, Brill, 1983. pp.220. Facsimiles & type‐specimens.

x. ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN EGYPT, PAKISTAN AND IRAN: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. By Asaf Hussain. London, Mansell, 1983. pp.xiv, 168. £16.50.

xi. THE SUBLIME QUR'AN AND ORIENTALISM. By Mohammad Khalifa. London, Longman, 1983. pp.xviii, 262. £11.95.

xii. THE UNIVERSALITY OF ISLAM: a REFUTATION OF HOSTILE CRITICISM By ORIENTALISTS. By Nur‐Ud‐Din Muneer. London, London Mosque, 1983. pp.iv, 26.

xiii. ISLAMIC STUDIES, ORIENTALISTS AND MUSLIM SCHOLARS. By S.Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi. Translated by Mohiuddin Ahmad. Lucknow, Academy of Islamic Research and Publications, 1983. pp.11, 64. Indian Rs.6.

xiv. FAHARIS MAKHTUTAT AL‐KHIZANA AL‐HASANIYYA HASABA ARQAMI‐HA ‘ALA AL‐RUFUF (1). Tasnif MUHAMMAD AL‐MANUUNI. Rabat, al‐Matba'a al‐Malakiyya, 1403/1983. pp.23 + 315.

xv. L'ÉGYPTIEN TEL QU'ON L'ÉCRIT: GLOSSAIRE ÉTABLI D'APRES UN CHOIX D'OEUVRES LITTÉRAIRES ÉGYPTIENNES CONTEMPORAINES. Compiled by Charles Vial. (Textes Arabes et Études Islamiques, Tome XVIII) Cairo, Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire, 1983. pp.xxiii, 382.

xvii. IMMIGRANTS, MINORITIES AND RACE RELATIONS: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THESES AND DISSERTATIONS PRESENTED AT BRITISH AND IRISH UNIVERSITIES 1900–1981. By Victor F. Gilbert and Darshan Singh Tatla, with an introduction by Colin Holmes. London and New York, Mansell, 1984. pp.153. £13.50.

xviii. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC SURVEY. By Ali Banuazizi, with the assistance of Prouchestia Goodarzi. London and New York, Mansell Publishing Ltd., 1984. xviii, pp.248. £18.00.

xix. THE YEMENS. Compiled by G.Rex Smith. (World Bibliographical Series, 50). Oxford, Clio Press, 1984. pp.161, 1 map. Price £20.75.

xx. THE ROLE OF NATIONAL LIBRARIES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SAUDI ARABIA. By Abdulaziz Mohamed Al‐Nahari. London & New York, Mansell, 1984. pp.166. £18.50.     

Hungry minds: Investigating the food insecurity of minority community college students

Research on food insecurity has investigated urban environments at the neighborhood and city level but neglected the importance of college institutions. Community colleges, which serve a larger population of low‐income, food insecure, and minority students than 4‐year institutions, have been especially neglected. In this mixed methods study, we examined how 50 low‐income minority students in an urban community college access food on campus and how the features of their college foodscape shape their food insecurity. We also investigated how students' ability to access food on campus shaped their perceptions of the college institution and their academic endeavors. Our survey findings reveal high levels of food insecurity among our participants. Students' written narratives demonstrate their desire for more appealing and affordable food on campus and reveal their distrust of the college institution. Furthermore, students connect their food insecurity to their ability to concentrate on academic tasks. Thus, the accessibility of food on campus appears to affect students' perceptions of their community college institution and has implications for their emotional and academic development. Our work suggests that both researchers and college institutions must examine the inadvertent signals that institutions send to food insecure students through their food policies.